The Language of Art:

Video Art in the New Holocaust History Museum

by Yifat Bachrach-Ron

Although paintings, drawings and video art may be found in many galleries and art museums worldwide, they are generally unseen in any other type of museum. However, they will all be part of the new Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem, where art from the Holocaust period and works by contemporary artists will be an integral part of the museum’s historical exhibits.

“The concept of incorporating works of art into the new museum’s displays reflects Yad Vashem’s multidisciplinary approach in perpetuating the memory of, and teaching about, the Holocaust,” explains Avner Shalev, chief curator of the Museum and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate. “Art can serve as an important medium, reflecting the multidimensional, inner world of the victims, while helping to depict historical events. We believe that the multidisciplinary displays will enhance and broaden the visitors’ knowledge, and increase their interest in, and experience of, the subject matter of the museum.”

The village of Kobuxzowa, Poland, early 1930s. The video art work, composed by Michal Rovner, was built from seven different video clips blended together to depict a single scene (Courtesy Michal Rovner)

Yehudit Inbar, Yad Vashem’s museum curator and Director of the Museums Division adds: “The difference between a museum and a history book is that all museums place their primary emphasis on giving the visitor an experience. Art generates an emotional response in the viewer, and this is why, in a historical museum, works of art serve not only to document and illustrate the subject matter, but also to increase their emotional involvement.”

When planning certain sections of the museum, museum designer Dorit Harel of Dorit Harel Design Inc. proposed using audio-visual presentations instead of conventional exhibits. Boris Mafzir, media consultant for Yad Vashem, took this idea one step further by suggesting that the entire historical themes be portrayed via a contemporary art form: video art. After a long process, two Israeli artists were chosen: Michal Rovner and Uri Tzaig.

Both Rovner and Tzaig have already earned international acclaim, and are considered world-class artists. The works of Michal Rovner have been displayed in many venues, including a one-person show at the New York’s Whitney Museum. Rovner was also chosen to represent Israel at the Biennale in Venice. Likewise, Uri Tzaig’s works have been displayed worldwide, including the recent Biennale in Istanbul, the Yokahama Biennale in Japan, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, and the Kwangju Biennale in South Korea.

At the Museum’s entrance, Rovner has created a 10-minute video art display, portraying the Jewish world before the Holocaust, donated by the Clore Israel Foundation. This work—which will be projected on the 13-meter high triangular eastern wall of the museum as suggested by Dorit Harel—takes the visitor on a journey into the world of ordinary people within their communities; a world now vanished. The shortage of good quality footage documenting Jewish life before the Holocaust made the video’s creation difficult. “The challenge was to recreate the atmosphere of Jewish life,” explains Rovner. “I took different film clips and blended them into one background, just as the Jews blended into the fabric of life in the countries where they lived.”

A “virtual album” created by Uri Tzaig, displaying original manuscripts by Jews during and immediately following the Holocaust (Courtesy Uri Tzaig)

The second work, created by Tzaig, will be the final section of the museum. In one corner of the gallery, a “virtual” album with turning pages will display original manuscripts—diaries, letters, notes and memoirs—written by Jews during the Holocaust period and by survivors afterwards. Another wall will show floating letters that occasionally combine to form words and sentences. The letters seem to dart through a moving spotlight—echoing the spotlights used in the camps—highlighting the written texts (see cover). “The two works symbolize the human spirit that survived even in the inferno,” explains Tzaig. “After looking at the most distressing materials—pictures that depict hell itself—I decided to use the faceless, written word, which represents structured thought and human faith. The letters are like the strings of a musical instrument, and this room will serve as a sound box for these strings, preserving the human beauty that managed to survive.” 

In accordance with the request of the museum committee, both artists used only authentic historical materials, gleaned from archives at Yad Vashem and around the world. “Throughout the creation process,” says Rovner, “I was aware of the great privilege given to me—both as an artist and as a human being—in being allowed to work with these materials. It has deepened my awareness of the humanity and power of the world we lost.”

Copyright ©2004 Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority